Join us for an Oracle HCM Cloud Customer Forum call on Wednesday, March 15, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. PDT.

FRHI Hotels and Resorts is the owner of three major hotel brands―Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel―each with 50,000 employees in 30+ countries. In this call, Joël Günter, Director, Talent & Culture Systems Architecture, will discuss why FRHI decided to transform its HR systems and processes in a phased approach to the Oracle HCM Cloud.

Register now to attend the live forum and learn more about Fairmont Hotels Internationals’ experience with Oracle HCM Cloud.

Join us for an Oracle HCM Cloud Customer Forum call on Wednesday, March 15, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. PDT.

FRHI Hotels and Resorts is the owner of three major hotel brands―Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel―each with 50,000 employees in 30+ countries. In this call, Joël Günter, Director, Talent & Culture Systems Architecture, will discuss why FRHI decided to transform its HR systems and processes in a phased approach to the Oracle HCM Cloud.

Register now to attend the live forum and learn more about Fairmont Hotels Internationals’ experience with Oracle HCM Cloud.

Join us for an Oracle HCM Cloud Customer call on Wednesday, February 15, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. PDT.

Carolyn Kenny, Director of Information Services at Hillside Family of Agencies, will discuss why Hillside decided to move its Oracle E-Business Suite HR and ERP on premises to the Oracle HCM and ERP Cloud.

Hillside Family of Agencies is using the following Oracle Cloud products: Core HR, Payroll, Benefits and Absence Management, and Oracle ERP Cloud. The company is implementing in phases. Phase 1 included Core HR, HR Analytics, Recruiting, Social Sourcing, and Benefits. Phase 2 includes Performance and Goal Management, Career and Succession Planning, and Learning and Development.

Register now to attend the live forum and learn more about Hillside Family of Agencies’ experience with Oracle HCM Cloud.

Join us for an Oracle HCM Cloud Customer call on Wednesday, February 15, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. PDT.

Carolyn Kenny, Director of Information Services at Hillside Family of Agencies, will discuss why Hillside decided to move its Oracle E-Business Suite HR and ERP on premises to the Oracle HCM and ERP Cloud.

Hillside Family of Agencies is using the following Oracle Cloud products: Core HR, Payroll, Benefits and Absence Management, and Oracle ERP Cloud. The company is implementing in phases. Phase 1 included Core HR, HR Analytics, Recruiting, Social Sourcing, and Benefits. Phase 2 includes Performance and Goal Management, Career and Succession Planning, and Learning and Development.

Register now to attend the live forum and learn more about Hillside Family of Agencies’ experience with Oracle HCM Cloud.

Join us for an Oracle HCM Cloud Customer Forum on Wednesday, February 1, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. PT.

Anje Dodson, Oracle HR vice president of talent, technology and operations (pictured left), will explain how and why Oracle has moved 126,000 employees from Oracle E-Business Suite on premises to Oracle HCM Cloud.

Oracle’s HR transformation is taking place in a phased approach:

In 2015 Oracle went live with recruiting, talent review, learn, and compensation in the HR Cloud.

In March of 2016 Oracle went live with Oracle Global HR Cloud.

As of October 2016, the Oracle single global instance is now in the HR Cloud, with more to come.

During this Customer Forum call, Oracle's Linda Fishman will interview Ms. Dodson to discuss what business drivers were behind the move to the cloud and why Oracle chose to implement a phased approach. She also will talk about the company's expectations and benefits for its new modern HR system.

Register now to attend the live forum and learn more about Oracle’s transition from E-Business Suite to HCM Cloud.

Join us for an Oracle HCM Cloud Customer Forum on Wednesday, February 1, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. PT.

Anje Dodson, Oracle HR vice president of talent, technology and operations (pictured left), will explain how and why Oracle has moved 126,000 employees from Oracle E-Business Suite on premises to Oracle HCM Cloud.

Oracle’s HR transformation is taking place in a phased approach:

In 2015 Oracle went live with recruiting, talent review, learn, and compensation in the HR Cloud.

In March of 2016 Oracle went live with Oracle Global HR Cloud.

As of October 2016, the Oracle single global instance is now in the HR Cloud, with more to come.

During this Customer Forum call, Oracle's Linda Fishman will interview Ms. Dodson to discuss what business drivers were behind the move to the cloud and why Oracle chose to implement a phased approach. She also will talk about the company's expectations and benefits for its new modern HR system.

Register now to attend the live forum and learn more about Oracle’s transition from E-Business Suite to HCM Cloud.

Join us for an Oracle Sales Cloud Customer Forum call on Wednesday, January 18, 2017.

Syndy Lynch, Director of Sales Operations at Texas Instruments, will discuss the company’s journey from Oracle CRM On Demand to Oracle Sales Cloud. You will hear how Oracle Sales Cloud has improved sales productivity and account management.

Register now to attend the live forum on Wednesday, January 18, 2017, at 8:00 a.m. PT.

Join us for an Oracle Sales Cloud Customer Forum call on Wednesday, January 18, 2017.

Syndy Lynch, Director of Sales Operations at Texas Instruments, will discuss the company’s journey from Oracle CRM On Demand to Oracle Sales Cloud. You will hear how Oracle Sales Cloud has improved sales productivity and account management.

Register now to attend the live forum on Wednesday, January 18, 2017, at 8:00 a.m. PT.

It isn’t often that three veryheavy hitters—the domestic US standard setters, the FinancialAccounting Standards Board (FASB), and the International Accounting StandardsBoard (IASB)—get together and redefine a business concept that isas significant as revenue.

But in 2014, they succeededin doing just that.

Together, they published aconverged and identical accounting standard named ASC 606 and IFRS 15.

It literally moved thebusiness goal posts.

The new accounting standard is called Revenue fromContracts with Customers.

This new standard repealseverything we know about revenue—all of ourfavorite EITFs, SOPS, FAS, and even IAS 18.

At this point, you might betempted to click away because of the technical acronyms, but please stay withme. It’s important that you understand the compliance issues you will be facingand how Oracle’s new Revenue Management Cloud can help.

In a nutshell, the newstandard abolishes deferred revenue (unearned as of the date of the financialstatements) in favor of an ‘accrued debt to customers for goods and services,’ whichis payment that you are obligated to pay in the future.

That means you are requiredto estimate revenue up front and adjust the accrual afterwards. It introducesperformance obligation accounting, which is a promise to transfer a good orservice.

But at the end of the day, yoursales are still your sales. What’s different is when those sales are booked asrevenue.

You must take up the new standard on the first day of yourfiscal year after January 1, 2018.

All public companies, here and abroad, are impacted to some degree. The standarddeliberately does away with revenue guidance that is specific to an industry.Instead it upholds one way of recognizing revenue across the board.

The new definition is notdifficult. Here’s a quick sequence of steps that you must follow:

Identify eachdeal at inception

Identify the promisesto customers in that deal

Value the deal atwhat you expect to get for it

Assign that valueto the promises using your standard stand-alone selling prices as a basis

Recognize therevenue at that amount when you complete the transfer to the customer

An important part of adopting the standard isrecalculating the opening balance sheet.

The opening balance sheet mustreflect your performance obligation liability, instead of the deferred revenueliability with which you ended the previous year.

Therefore, you have twooptions to explain the resulting impact on equity to your investors: 1) restatethe previous years or 2) disclose the subsequent year. The hard part, mostlikely, will be setting up an opening position!

Revenue Management Cloud is the answer.

At OpenWorld 2016, Oracle announced that Revenue Management Cloud is generally available as part of Oracle ERP Cloud. As would be expected from Oracle, it closely follows the new standard.

It first importssales cycle data from third-party products, from E-Business Suite, and fromrelated cloud applications, and identifies performance obligations andcontracts.

It includes a standaloneselling price engine and facility to import estimated selling prices.

It books theaccrual when either party acts, and it books the revenue upon customersatisfaction.

It matches the billingto the revenue process.

The new standard creates a challenge for you; Oraclehas the solution.

As noted above, the standardgoes into effect January 1, 2018. So the coming year is the time andopportunity to get out in front of this.

Oracle can help you acceleratethe transition by facilitating both a simulation of your compliance and thebuildup of your opening balance using a special secondary ledger.

Revenue Management Cloud followsthe standard directly so partnering with Oracle makes it easy to embrace ASC606 and IFRS 15. This new cloud application is designed to deliver a valuable businessbenefit.

It isn’t often that three very
heavy hitters—the domestic US standard setters, the Financial
Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and the International Accounting Standards
Board (IASB)—get together and redefine a business concept that is
as significant as revenue.

But in 2014, they succeeded
in doing just that.

Together, they published a
converged and identical accounting standard named ASC 606 and IFRS 15.

It literally moved the
business goal posts.

The new accounting standard is called Revenue from
Contracts with Customers.

This new standard repeals
everything we know about revenue—all of our
favorite EITFs, SOPS, FAS, and even IAS 18.

At this point, you might be
tempted to click away because of the technical acronyms, but please stay with
me. It’s important that you understand the compliance issues you will be facing
and how Oracle’s new Revenue Management Cloud can help.

In a nutshell, the new
standard abolishes deferred revenue (unearned as of the date of the financial
statements) in favor of an ‘accrued debt to customers for goods and services,’ which
is payment that you are obligated to pay in the future.

That means you are required
to estimate revenue up front and adjust the accrual afterwards. It introduces
performance obligation accounting, which is a promise to transfer a good or
service.

But at the end of the day, your
sales are still your sales. What’s different is when those sales are booked as
revenue.

You must take up the new standard on the first day of your
fiscal year after January 1, 2018.

All public companies, here and abroad, are impacted to some degree. The standard
deliberately does away with revenue guidance that is specific to an industry.
Instead it upholds one way of recognizing revenue across the board.

The new definition is not
difficult. Here’s a quick sequence of steps that you must follow:

Identify each
deal at inception

Identify the promises
to customers in that deal

Value the deal at
what you expect to get for it

Assign that value
to the promises using your standard stand-alone selling prices as a basis

Recognize the
revenue at that amount when you complete the transfer to the customer

An important part of adopting the standard is
recalculating the opening balance sheet.

The opening balance sheet must
reflect your performance obligation liability, instead of the deferred revenue
liability with which you ended the previous year.

Therefore, you have two
options to explain the resulting impact on equity to your investors: 1) restate
the previous years or 2) disclose the subsequent year. The hard part, most
likely, will be setting up an opening position!

Revenue Management Cloud is the answer.

At OpenWorld 2016, Oracle announced that Revenue Management Cloud is generally available as part of Oracle ERP Cloud. As would be expected from Oracle, it closely follows the new standard.

It first imports
sales cycle data from third-party products, from E-Business Suite, and from
related cloud applications, and identifies performance obligations and
contracts.

It includes a standalone
selling price engine and facility to import estimated selling prices.

It books the
accrual when either party acts, and it books the revenue upon customer
satisfaction.

It matches the billing
to the revenue process.

The new standard creates a challenge for you; Oracle
has the solution.

As noted above, the standard
goes into effect January 1, 2018. So the coming year is the time and
opportunity to get out in front of this.

Oracle can help you accelerate
the transition by facilitating both a simulation of your compliance and the
buildup of your opening balance using a special secondary ledger.

Revenue Management Cloud follows
the standard directly so partnering with Oracle makes it easy to embrace ASC
606 and IFRS 15. This new cloud application is designed to deliver a valuable business
benefit.

“Talking to other customers has made more of a difference to us than anything else.” ─ Katie Eure, Accounting Manager, Alex Lee, Inc.

No matter how many times we say something, it means a lot more coming from a customer. That’s why we’re so appreciative of customers like Alex Lee, Inc., who are willing to do the talking for us. This $3 billion, privately-owned retail grocery store and food distributor headquartered in Hickory, NC, gave the lowdown on its Oracle ERP Cloud implementation to a captive audience at OpenWorld. Maybe it was the forthright discussion or the lively Q&A, or both—this session was a hit.

Take time to consider the downstream effects of your configuration decisions. For example, a long ledger name can take up valuable screen space in the reporting tools. If you don’t know the impact of a certain configuration, you should ask your implementation partner.

2. Embrace the idea of no customizations.

When people push back on the no customization rule, they probably don’t understand the configurability of Oracle’s cloud applications or the extensibility that PaaS offers. But don’t let that deter you. Eure and Walters reiterated the benefits of cloud: “Putting a system in place that prevents customization can work in your favor. It helps you through the upgrade and maintenance process.”

3. Don’t underestimate change management.

Based on Alex Lee’s experience, “change management is going to be a bigger challenge than you think. Even if you get up and running quickly in the cloud, it doesn’t mean any less change for your people.” In fact, Eure reported that they pushed out the go live dates for Oracle Procurement and Travel & Expense Management Clouds so that Finance could get comfortable with Accounts Payable. It wasn’t a matter of the system not being ready; the people weren’t ready.

4. Communicate the positive impact of moving to the Cloud.

Make sure users understand the tradeoffs between on-premises and cloud software. For example, if people complain that they no longer can call IT and demand immediate help, remind them that changes to on-premises software on average come every 10 years or so, whereas changes to cloud applications occur multiple times a year. In addition, Oracle now has a window into how organizations use the software which they didn’t have before.

5. Consider Oracle Support as part of your project team.

In a cloud implementation, you’ll be working with Oracle Support from Day 1. They’re still there to address issues, but they also provide help with new functionality and a path to cloud operations. For example, if you want to make a production-to-test copy or a test-to-test copy, you contact Oracle Support. Learn how to navigate the Support organization while you’re in the implementation phase because that will put you on a strong footing going forward.

6. Start the upgrade process right away.

As soon as you know your upgrade window, be sure to allow for a couple months in your test environment. You’ll want to look at new functionality and learn how to take advantage of it. At Alex Lee, the majority of training happens through testing.

7. Leverage your partnership with Oracle.

If you need advice or have a problem, find the right people in Oracle to help you. As Eure told the audience, “most people have never heard of Alex Lee. But we feel like Oracle listens to us and wants to partner with us.”

“Talking to other customers has made more of a difference to us than anything else.” ─ Katie Eure, Accounting Manager, Alex Lee, Inc.

No matter how many times we say something, it means a lot more coming from a customer. That’s why we’re so appreciative of customers like Alex Lee, Inc., who are willing to do the talking for us. This $3 billion, privately-owned retail grocery store and food distributor headquartered in Hickory, NC, gave the lowdown on its Oracle ERP Cloud implementation to a captive audience at OpenWorld. Maybe it was the forthright discussion or the lively Q&A, or both—this session was a hit.

Take time to consider the downstream effects of your configuration decisions. For example, a long ledger name can take up valuable screen space in the reporting tools. If you don’t know the impact of a certain configuration, you should ask your implementation partner.

2. Embrace the idea of no customizations.

When people push back on the no customization rule, they probably don’t understand the configurability of Oracle’s cloud applications or the extensibility that PaaS offers. But don’t let that deter you. Eure and Walters reiterated the benefits of cloud: “Putting a system in place that prevents customization can work in your favor. It helps you through the upgrade and maintenance process.”

3. Don’t underestimate change management.

Based on Alex Lee’s experience, “change management is going to be a bigger challenge than you think. Even if you get up and running quickly in the cloud, it doesn’t mean any less change for your people.” In fact, Eure reported that they pushed out the go live dates for Oracle Procurement and Travel & Expense Management Clouds so that Finance could get comfortable with Accounts Payable. It wasn’t a matter of the system not being ready; the people weren’t ready.

4. Communicate the positive impact of moving to the Cloud.

Make sure users understand the tradeoffs between on-premises and cloud software. For example, if people complain that they no longer can call IT and demand immediate help, remind them that changes to on-premises software on average come every 10 years or so, whereas changes to cloud applications occur multiple times a year. In addition, Oracle now has a window into how organizations use the software which they didn’t have before.

5. Consider Oracle Support as part of your project team.

In a cloud implementation, you’ll be working with Oracle Support from Day 1. They’re still there to address issues, but they also provide help with new functionality and a path to cloud operations. For example, if you want to make a production-to-test copy or a test-to-test copy, you contact Oracle Support. Learn how to navigate the Support organization while you’re in the implementation phase because that will put you on a strong footing going forward.

6. Start the upgrade process right away.

As soon as you know your upgrade window, be sure to allow for a couple months in your test environment. You’ll want to look at new functionality and learn how to take advantage of it. At Alex Lee, the majority of training happens through testing.

7. Leverage your partnership with Oracle.

If you need advice or have a problem, find the right people in Oracle to help you. As Eure told the audience, “most people have never heard of Alex Lee. But we feel like Oracle listens to us and wants to partner with us.”

Mining is an industry that is pivotal to the world’s economy. We wanted to share this recent article from Australia Mining that reports on the needful intersection of the mining industry and Oracle’s HR cloud applications.

As with many industries, mining is being reshaped by external forces, which is causing challenges for human resources.

One of those challenges is the result of increased automation. HR professionals need to ensure the company retains its talent amidst “the drive toward increased productivity and innovation,” says John F Hansen, Oracle’s vice president for Human Capital Management in JAPAC.

Another challenge is the staff’s mental health. The mining industry pays well, but the work can be in remote locations, time intensive, and physically challenging. According to PWC research, conditions such as these can lead to absenteeism, reduced productivity, and compensation claims.

Help comes in the form of innovative HR strategies. Both of these issues can be addressed by the latest generation of HCM technology. Hansen points to Oracle’s Work Life Solutions, which “can be used to help employees manage the intersection of their work and personal lives.”

These applications can produce a more engaged productive workforce. Equally important is that the “ROI for these programs in the mining industry is the highest across all industries.”

Mining is an industry that is pivotal to the world’s economy. We wanted to share this recent article from Australia Mining that reports on the needful intersection of the mining industry and Oracle’s HR cloud applications.

As with many industries, mining is being reshaped by external forces, which is causing challenges for human resources.

One of those challenges is the result of increased automation. HR professionals need to ensure the company retains its talent amidst “the drive toward increased productivity and innovation,” says John F Hansen, Oracle’s vice president for Human Capital Management in JAPAC.

Another challenge is the staff’s mental health. The mining industry pays well, but the work can be in remote locations, time intensive, and physically challenging. According to PWC research, conditions such as these can lead to absenteeism, reduced productivity, and compensation claims.

Help comes in the form of innovative HR strategies. Both of these issues can be addressed by the latest generation of HCM technology. Hansen points to Oracle’s Work Life Solutions, which “can be used to help employees manage the intersection of their work and personal lives.”

These applications can produce a more engaged productive workforce. Equally important is that the “ROI for these programs in the mining industry is the highest across all industries.”